


in the arms of a stranger (pretending it's love)

by plinys



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: F/M, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-23
Updated: 2018-09-23
Packaged: 2019-07-16 01:55:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16075907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plinys/pseuds/plinys
Summary: In which, Nora and Ray find a way to pass the time waiting for the sunrise to come in Berlin.





	in the arms of a stranger (pretending it's love)

**Author's Note:**

> I was lucky enough to get a sneak peek at s4 and there's one moment where a /certain someone/ makes an acting choice that loosely implies that Ray and Nora hooked up in the Berlin episode, so I wrote the thing.

She blames it on the fact that she’s bored, stuck playing the waiting game, for photos to develop, for the sunrise, for their hostage to wake up… For the other shoe to drop.

And Ray is just there, saying something that Nora doesn’t even really listen to. 

Words that mean nothing. Words that she cannot even bring herself to focus on. Because it is late, and because he’s so close to her. She definitely has not been thinking of him like  _ that _ , in fact it’s really awful that she’s stuck here with  _ him _ in the past, but there’s one way to pass the time, one way that comes so quickly to her mind as he’s sitting there across from her.

One way, that from the way his eyes follow her as she stands up, Nora can tell he wouldn’t exactly be opposed to.

“Stop talking,” Nora tells him, right before she kisses him.

Cutting off his comment that at least talking was a good way to past the time. Cutting off every other dumb thought that he’s been rambling at her for the past hour. And presenting a much better option, in her personal opinion. 

It works, for a blissful second there’s silence, as he is completely still under her lips, and then a moment later his lips move against hers, kissing her back. 

She feels his hands tugging her into his lap as he deepens the kiss, and Nora goes easily knowing the chair will support her weight as she climbs on top of him. She imagines that it would be a lot harder to kiss him if he was standing up, the angles all wrong, but here like this, on top of him, in a house and a time that is not their own, they fit together perfectly.

He’s good at this. She can tell. Experienced in a way that Nora is not. Taking control so naturally. Normally Nora is never the type to relinquish any sort of control. But here, she gives in just a little, opens her mouth for him, lets him take control of the kiss.

It’s worth it.

She feels something, a warm feeling that spreads through her body the more that they kiss. It’s not love at first touch or any of that sort of thing that you read about in those fairy tales. But her body’s natural reaction to him. To the man whose hands are on her, pushing her leather jacket off of her shoulders, wanting to do so much more than just kiss her.  

They break apart from the kiss just for a moment so that Nora can pull her shirt off over her head. Ray doing the same a second later with his own shirt. 

And for a second the whole world slows down. 

As if all of time had stopped.

And Ray… His eyes are on her, looking at her with something akin to reverence. Taking in every inch of her for the first time. Nora feels something, not quite uncomfortable, but not quite as certain of herself as she usually is, under the pressure of his gaze. Something that has her pushing back towards him for another kiss. 

Kissing Ray is easier than thinking about what that look in his eyes might have meant.

More than just attraction.

More than Nora wanted to think about. 

Ray’s hands are warm against her skin, tracing up her sides as they continue to kiss. Until there is a hand against her back, undoing her bra with ease. Letting it to the floor to join her jacket a moment later.

His hands slide forward to cup her breasts, and Nora’s hips tilt forward instinctively reacting to his touch. She feels him there, there press through his pants against her body, the fact that he wants this just as much as she does.

She shifts again just to hear him let out a small noise, almost a whine, so clearly  _ need _ . 

“I - You’re-”

“Stop talking,” Nora insists. Just as she had at the start of this.

Ray listens to her, only just, though he doesn’t kiss lips again. Instead, his hands slide back down to her hips, while he kisses against the side of her neck. Pressing kisses like butterflies there. Light and not enough, she rocks her hips against him again, enticing him to stop kissing her delicately. She needs - “More, Ray, I-”

“I know,” his lips against her skin, such that she can feel the words spoken against her. 

His hands on her waist pull her closer to him, into a space that Nora goes willingly. His lips trailing further down her skin, until they’re there against her breast. Warm heat against her skin, the lightest hint of pressure that he had resisted putting before. While one of his hands strays from her waist to press against her through the fabric of her jeans. Just enough, just the right pressure, mixed with his teeth against her skin. 

She cannot help the noise that falls from her lips, a gasp of pleasure, of want, of desire.

She wants him.

Needs him.

In this way.

More than she’s ever needed anyone else before. 

_ Please  _ is an unfamiliar word to her lips, but it spills forth now. Over and over again, because she needs him. There is an ache deep inside of her, one that has her canting her hips forward again and again, wanting something other than just the little hint of pressure she is currently getting. 

Wanting to feel him. 

She removes her hands from where they rest against the arms of the chair holding herself upright, to instead move with purpose, towards the belt on his pants. 

Only he stops her. 

Pulls back away from her, and Nora involuntarily finds herself whining at the loss of his warm mouth against her breast. 

_ Whining _ .

As if she were ever the woman sort of to whine before. 

What has this man made of her? 

He’s a weakness. She knows this. Even now as she gives into the weakness just for a brief moment.

“I don’t have a condom,” Ray says, stopping her from going further, his hands on hers, holding them in place pressed up against his belt. 

She can feel how much he wants her through his jeans, the heavy weight of him pressed up against her thighs as she straddles him. She wants this, and he wants this, and Nora isn’t about to let a little thing like a condom get in the way of that. Not when they’ve already made it this far. 

“It’s fine,” Nora insists, “I’m clean. I’ve never been with anyone else before, as long as you’re-”

“Wait, hold on, Nora-”

“I mean it’s not as if you’re going to get possessed by a demon if you fuck me. Especially seeing as right now I can’t even access my magic and I-”

“-You’re a virgin?”

There’s silence for a moment. A moment that stretches far too long.

Before Nora says, “Oh that,” in a dry, almost impartial voice. 

Ray frowns at her, his own voice soft, “We shouldn’t… Your first time should be special.”

Nora laughs a little, under her breath so that it can barely be heard, at the almost guilty expression on his face. Because of course  _ this  _ is what  _ Ray Palmer _ would draw the line at. 

Not the fact that they had only technically gotten here because her father had kidnapped him, and they were now stuck together, trying to get this man across the border to get formula for cold fusion (which she planned to use to break time)  _ purely  _ because she had listened to one of Ray’s dumb ideas about how torture might not be the best course of action. Not the fact that they had broken into this  _ store _ , kidnapped people to steal their clothing and car, and were now waiting for their fake identification photos to finish developing. No, all of that he had been fine with, but  _ this…  _  This was the thing that Ray felt bad about.

Just because she… Because she hadn’t…

“It doesn’t mean anything,” Nora insists, mostly because she’s shirtless and on top of him and really wants to pick right back up where they left off. But also because she truly doesn’t care. Because the world would be ending soon, all of time broken, and Nora with it. The idea of waiting for a fairy tale moment had been long since forgotten many years ago. “I just haven’t had the time. Too busy being possessed and living with a bunch of demonic nuns, which it’s not like I really had any options.” 

In hindsight, she shouldn’t have brought it up.

But hindsight is twenty-twenty.

And honestly any other guy would be proud of this, to be the first person to ever have her in this way. 

Only Ray, soft and kind and  _ weak _ , would be the one that would want to take things slowly. To do this  _ properly,  _ as if Nora Darhk had ever been the sort of girl that was meant for softness and light touches. As if she was the type of woman that a man like him would want to  _ make love to _ .

It was almost laughable. 

“It doesn’t have to mean anything,” she insists, trying again, leaning forward to press her lips against his. 

Because she needs this. She needs to feel something. Without her magic, without her time stone, she’s felt nothing but lost, but here and now with Ray there was a chance to feel something, physical and desperate, and new, but something that she needs.

She grinds down her hips pointedly, against where she can so clearly tell that he’s still very much interested in her. 

Ray breaks the kiss apart too soon for Nora’s liking, and she really doesn’t want this to be a  _ discussion _ , the whole point of kissing him had been to end any sort of conversation. 

“No,” she says, trying to cut him off before he can even start again.

Ray, ignores that. “I just… I don’t want to hurt you.”

Nora rolls her eyes. Having half the mind to end this before it even starts, except there’s a feeling warm and deep inside of her that convinces her not to. “I’m not fragile, Ray.”

She squeezes down tightly on his arm as if to prove that exact point. Feels his muscles flex underneath her palm, the slight grimace on his face.

No, not fragile.

Nobody else would ever dare to imply as much. 

“No, no, I know that,” he insists.

“Then what is it then?”

She thinks for a second that she catches a flush on his face, as he looks away from her for just a moment, off over her head, as though it’s easier for him to say it if he’s not looking at her. “I’m uh - Well - I’m quite large, and if it’s your first time then - It might - Probably will - Hurt...”

He’s stuttering and embarrassed.

And Nora’s not sure why that surprises her, but it does.

It’s almost charming. Almost. The flush that clings to his cheeks. And now that she knows he’s not calling her fragile, that he’s genuinely concerned because he’s apparently  _ well endowed  _ it’s just… A part of her wants to laugh.

Another part of her wants to get his pants off right away.

“Do we need to find whatever passes for a bed in this place,” Nora asks, the offer there, because she still wants this.

Now more than at the start.

Curiosity and something like want mixing together.

Ray’s hands are still holding tight to her sides. Warm against her skin. His hands tight against her. Holding her. Wanting her. 

Nora’s not used to being wanted like this.

He shakes his head a little. “It’ll be easier if you’re on top, like this actually, then you can control things.”

Control.

He was offering her control.

So easy and willing.

She would’ve taken it anyways, but this… She likes this.

Nora presses another kiss against his lips, barely there, almost chaste, before climbing off of him.

She doesn’t miss the way he looks disappointed for a second. Until he realizes what she’s doing. Nora shoots him something that could almost pass for a smile, as she undoes the button on her own jeans, tugging them down a moment later. Never breaking eye contact as she does so, able to see the hunger in his eyes as he watches her. 

It’s only once she’s finished and she raises an eyebrow at him that he seems to remember his own pants and rids himself of them as well.  

When she climbs back on top of him to kiss him once more, there’s no layers between them, just her body against his. And then it’s more than that. He’s there, against her, holding her hips, guiding her down onto him.

For a second it’s really is a lot, almost too much. He hadn’t been kidding when he said that he was large. She can feel him, every inch of him pressed up against her, inside of her, tight but in a good way. She cannot manage to keep kissing him. Turns instead, her cheek pressed against his, just remembering how to breath, despite the pressure.

He doesn’t push her. Waits, patiently until she settles, until she is not just gasping out for air, waits for her to say the word. Gentle and soft, even in this. She’s not certain why that surprises her. Everything about Ray has been gentle and soft. Even when she knows she does not deserve that. 

She takes a deep breath and moves back, just such that she can look him in the eye. The reverent look from before is finally gone, replaced instead with clear want, with the fact that he so clearly needs her. She can feel his hands twitching against her sides, the way his hips are unnaturally still, resisting the urge only just barely, waiting for her.

And then, with the smallest nod of her head, he finally moves. 

Letting out a sound that is both relief and pleasure.

They kiss now, not with the skill or grace of before. But sloopy, breathing each other in, not a real kiss, yet somehow more intimate. Pressing closer and closer. His hips thrust up against her, and Nora learns quickly that by bracing her arms on shoulders she can control the way they move against each other. Establish a rhythm that is pleasurable for both of them..

The push and pull, the feeling of him here, with her, inside of her.

It’s more than she ever expected, more than Nora could even begin to put into words.

As it is, she has trouble thinking of words at all. The only sounds she can make are gasps of pleasure, combined with something that could almost be his name, and a pleading for more, for all of this, so desperately.

It is the first time, but it feels like like the hundreth, like she was meant for this. 

Meant to be trapped here - in the wrong time, in the wrong place, but with the  _ right  _ man. 

This is not making love.

No, Nora is not the type for that.

But it’s something almost, something close, something so much more than a way to pass the time. 

She tells herself that this thing that she feels is not sentiment, not a longing for the man underneath her. The man that she can tell even now is holding himself back as to not hurt her, gentle as he rocks up against her, into her. 

“Ray,” she says his name, as if it’s the only word that she remembers.

The only word that has ever existed in all of time.

And he says her name much the same, soft and sacred, “Nora,” as it’s never been said before.

His focus is on her pleasure, she can tell as much when his hand slides down between there bodies pressing at her in a spot that is familiar to Nora. But more from her own explorations, in the dark of the night, a thin sheet over her hand, hands exploring her own body in an attempt to rid the pent up energy that she could not expel.

It is different now, with  _ his  _ hand being the one on her.

Different, but it a good way.

He knows what he’s doing, and soon it becomes hard to remember to rise and lower herself to meet his thrusts. Remaining upright becomes all that she can doing, barely able, were it not for his other hand pressed against her back, holding her steady there. 

She kisses him, because kissing is easy, kissing she can still manage. 

For now.

For a moment more.

Until she feels it, losing herself to the moment, to the feeling of him, all around her, consuming her. Nora’s mind falls blissfully blank as it hits her, shockwaves spreading through her body, like the magic that she hasn’t felt in days. A taste of what she had been longing for. 

More and yet not enough all at the same time. 

She is still riding the aftershocks of it when she feels him reach his own peak. His hips that had been thrusting into her stilling in the moment. The hand against her back pressing a touch too hard. 

She swears he says her name there against her lips, but it’s lost a moment later in a sound of pure pleasure, one that she swallows up with a kiss to quiet him.

Nora comes back to herself slowly. 

Awareness trickles back to her slowly.

Awareness of where they are.

Awareness of when they are.

Awareness of  _ why  _ they are here. 

Awareness of the way that Ray is looking at her, like he wants to  _ talk  _ about what all this means, even while they’re both still riding the afterglow of their orgasms. 

“Don’t talk,” she tells him, it feeling like more of a request than a command this time.

The moment is over, whatever intimacy they shared…

No.

She cannot dwell on it.

Nora needed to rid it from her mind. To remind herself that this wasn’t special. It didn’t need to be. It shouldn’t be. It shouldn’t have even happened in the first place.

Yet, why then, did the feeling of Ray’s hands still on her hips, give her far more comfort than they should. 

He looks at her, silent and soft. 

In a way Nora cannot stand be looked at.

Not here, not now, not by this man, not with what she knew was to come in the not too distant future.

She was not meant for this. She had a purpose too great to let a man with soft eyes, a  _ Legend,  _ steer her away from. 

She needs to focus. 

Needs to recenter herself.

She takes a deep breath, hating how it sound shaky even to her own ears, and adjusts herself, rising to move away from him. Ignoring the ache in her legs, and in other parts of her body, as she stands on shaky footing, moving to grab her clothing where they had been abandoned on the floor. 

“Nora-” he starts.

But she cuts him off, “No.”

Because she can’t.

Because she won’t.

It’s easier to compartmentalize. To write this off as nothing. To act as if it never happened. No matter how good it felt. 

The excuse is weak, even to her ears, but she leaves before waiting for his reply. “I need to check if our photos developed.” Telling herself that it’s easier this way as she leaves without looking back. 

Only feeling a little bit hurt, when she doesn’t hear the sound of him following. 

It’s easier this way.

It has to be.

To forget it all.

There isn’t another option.

Not here.

Not now.

Not for Nora.

 


End file.
